Ventus
Ventus or Ven as he is known, is a boy who is easy to make friends with. He holds his keyblade with a reverse grip, and has amazing speed. His weapons are intended for more speed and agility.He appears in "Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep ",the prequel to the first Kingdom Hearts game. Ventus (ヴェントゥス, Ventusu?), commonly nicknamed Ven (ヴェン?), is a fictional character from Square Enix's video game franchise Kingdom Hearts. Having first made cameos in Kingdom Hearts II and other related titles, Ventus was introduced in the 2010 prequel Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep as one of the three main characters. In its story, Ventus is introduced as the youngest apprentice of Master Eraqus who trains him alongside his best friends, Terra and Aqua, to become experienced warriors with the weapon, the Keyblade. When Terra goes on a mission to find the missing Master Xehanort, Ventus follows him as he starts to get concerned about his fate. As he journeys through various worlds, Ventus learns about his origins and his relation with Xehanort and his apprentice Vanitas. Ventus was designed by director Tetsuya Nomura who wanted him to have an important connection with the series' main character Sora. Ventus bears an extremely striking resemblance to the character of Roxas, both of whom are voiced by Kōki Uchiyama in Japanese and Jesse McCartney in English. After Ventus' first cameos, Nomura had to state that both of them are different characters, and the reason for such connection would be revealed in Birth by Sleep. Video game websites also commented on Ventus' first appearance, first confusing him for Roxas during development of Birth by Sleep, but nevertheless, his role within the game has been well-received. Before being introduced in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Ventus first made cameos in the secret endings of Kingdom Hearts II and its rerelease, Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, which depicted him and his friends Terra and Aqua battling Xehanort and Vanitas. Ventus is shown as cameos in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, when Xion, a replica of Sora, is seen as Ventus when fighting Xigbar.[1] Ventus is also constantly referenced by Xigbar in Kingdom Hearts II and 358/2 Days while Xemnas, the Nobody of Xehanort, is in search of him in Castle Oblivion.[2] In the start of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Ventus appears semiconscious with Xehanort. Having had his heart split, it is about to shatter, but an unknown person merges their heart with Ventus' in order to keep it safe.[3] Sometime later, Ventus appears as the youngest Keyblade apprentice of Master Eraqus living in the Land of Departure alongside Terra and Aqua.[4] When Eraqus sends Terra to seek out Xehanort, Vanitas goads Ventus into following him as he tells him that Terra may not be the same again.[5] Ventus starts travelling around various worlds, fighting the mysterious creatures, the "Unversed" and meeting various people. Vanitas attacks Ventus during his journey to test his strength,[6] but he is defeated when Ventus is aided by the Keyblade trainee Mickey.[7] When finding Xehanort, Ventus learns that he was previously his apprentice and Xehanort trained him to complete the legendary Keyblade χ-blade. However, due to Ventus' reluctance of using darkness, he extracted it from him, resulting in the creation of Vanitas.[8][9] Ventus refuses to battle Vanitas to avoid the creation of the χ-blade, but is forced to battle him when threatened that he will kill Terra and Aqua if he does not.[10] In the Keyblade Graveyard, Ventus, Terra and Aqua gather and battle Xehanort and Vanitas, and Ventus ends up fighting Vanitas after the latter knocks Aqua out cold. After defeating Vanitas, Ventus is restrained by the Unversed as he is forced to fuse with Vanitas to create the χ-blade, his body ending up in Vanitas' control.[11] However, as Aqua fights Ven's possessed body, the χ-blade is damaged. It turned out the fusion was incomplete as Ven sacrificed himself to destroy Vanitas from within his mind.[12] This results in the χ-blade being destroyed but Ventus loses his heart and his body is placed in the Chamber of Wakening within Castle Oblivion by Aqua.[13] Ventus' wandering heart is able to find a young Sora, who accepts Ventus' heart into his body, having been the heart that contacted him when his heart was split in two.[14] In the game's secret ending, he is seen in what appears to be the Land of Departure with Terra, and the two utter Sora's name with newfound hope. Ventus is mentioned in the ending of Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, when Mickey reveals he has learned where Ventus' heart is, having searched for Terra, Aqua and him.[15] Category:Main characters